As her mother walked further into the room, her face tight, her eyes fiery.“What on earth is going on here?”
CHAPTER19
“Hey, thanks again for your prayers, everyone.I’ve really felt them this week.”
There was a chorus of “sure thing” and “of course” and “great” and Kyle leaned back in his dining chair.
What a difference to earlier this week, when he’d sobbed like a baby while Ryan had patiently listened.Kyle had ended up later posting in the chat requesting prayer, only saying it was a family matter that he couldn’t really talk about just yet and needed wisdom and direction.And sure enough, the guys had stepped up, and he had felt a kind of carrying presence in recent days.There had been numerous times when his spirit had felt lifted, like someone somewhere had just prayed for him.
No time more apparent than when Minnie Rivas had walked through the door and daggered looks at him and Gen, as if imagining they were conducting a secret tryst.And okay, fair, she had a solid reason for imagining that, but he would’ve liked for her not to assume the worst.
He’d sensed that he should go, but before doing so, had made it clear to Minnie that she was not going to come between him and Bella.
“I know that you might think you’re protecting her, but I deserve the chance to get to know my daughter, and she deserves the chance to get to know me.”Calm words, softly spoken, but with firm intent.
“You are not going to take her away from me,” she’d declared, leaving him confused.
Did she mean Bella or Gen?Regardless, the answer was the same.“You’re right, I’m not.But you might find that if you insist on trying to divide us that they may want to leave.And that’s on you, not me.”
She’d gasped, then sworn, which as a brand-new father he’d objected to, but considering he wasn’t perfect in that area himself he wasn’t about to make too much of an issue about it.There was no use pointing out a stick when he had a log in his own eye.
Instead, he’d turned to Gen and Bella and thanked them for their time, told them he’d be praying for them, and reminded them that he hoped to take them out for a meal soon.
“A meal?”Minnie had screeched.
“You’d be welcome to come too,” he’d foolishly promised, before remembering.“My parents are in town next weekend and would like to meet Bella, if that’s okay with her and Gen.”
Sure enough, Minnie had thrown a series of protests at him as he exited.
But still.Despite the challenges of that encounter, the rest of that visit had gone so amazingly well.The fact he’d even gotten to talk to them about God’s love?Wow.
“Hey, Kyle really must’ve heard some good news judging from that smile,” Tom teased.
He shrugged, but yeah.And sensed that maybe this was finally the time to talk.
So he offered a condensed version of what he’d shared with Ryan earlier in the week.Sure enough, there were a few dropped jaws and widened eyes, but despite this, he didn’t sense judgment, but acceptance.Even mercy.
“So when I saw them earlier today, it just felt surreal to be able to talk about God and how He’s changed my life.”He grinned.“I even got to share about learning to understand what God’s voice sounds like.”
“Whoa.”
“Tell us more.”
He shrugged.“Hey, I’m no expert, but I figure a relationship with God isn’t supposed to just be one-way, right?So if I’m talking to Him, then He’s probably trying to talk to me too.And yeah, I get that a lot of the time it’s in the Bible, but I’m trying to pay more attention to what I think the Holy Spirit might be trying to say.And maybe I get things wrong, but I figure that’s better than ignoring Him because I think it’s weird.”
“You know, there’s a bunch of spiritual gifts mentioned in the Bible that a lot of Christians don’t pay much attention to these days,” Jai said thoughtfully.“And if God thought it was important enough for the first Christians to use, then I don’t see why He would’ve made it stop two thousand years later.”
The conversation veered into theological matters that Kyle was too much of a newbie to follow.But hey, he didn’t need to have all the answers.Especially when it seemed like God was answering a number of his questions in unexpected ways.
Even that hug earlier today with Gen had felt like another answered prayer.It had been sweet, secure, with none of the rush of heady hormones he was used to when near her before.
His heart twisted.Which perhaps meant that God didn’t want him to have a relationship with Gen beyond her simply being the mother of his child.He swallowed.Well, if that was the case, then God had a good reason, and Kyle was gonna trust Him with it.
“So, any other prayer requests?”Mike asked.
Doug raised his hand.“Yeah, I’d like to pray for JT’s wife.She’s had the baby and it’s not sleeping well, and she’s now having some trouble with a visa, and yeah.”
“And yeah?”Drew asked.
